


A Quiet Night

by orphan_account



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Domestic, F/M, Family Fluff, Fear of Death, Gen, Past Character Death, Post-Canon, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 16:36:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8408878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After the war, Kaze and Corrin settled in with their daughter, and soon had a son, Kana. But she learns there's still much about Kaze that she doesn't know...





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [priestessofhoshido](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=priestessofhoshido).



> shout out to Rory (@pigeonghoul) for being cool as heck and writing the best and only joke in this fic and organizing the shit out of this exchange. 
> 
> All of this takes place in a wing of the Hoshido palace, post-Birthright, makes the assumption that at least Saizo, Kaze, and Takumi got busy, and that the war took place over 4 years (because that's what was convenient for me) This will also be mentioned later in text.

 

It was a quiet night.

Corrin sat at quietly at the sitting room table, and poured herself another cup of tea. The mellow, earthy taste of the green tea was entirely different from the black tea she’d used to drink all the time in Nohr- although she’d rarely drank that without milk and sugar- but she was fonder of this newer taste. It tasted domestic. She smiled at the thought. Of course it tasted that way to her. She only started drinking green tea after she married Kaze.

She took another long, slow sip, listening to the soft, steady breathing of little Midori and baby Kana on the other side of the paper walls and the chirp of insects from outside.

It was late. Very late.

Somewhere, a door quietly slid open and shut. To someone who hadn’t married a ninja, the sound would have been almost imperceptible- but Corrin knew it could only be one person. When her husband slid open the inner door to the sitting room, she did her best to look stern.

“Welcome home,” she said. “Working late again?”

“Of course. Only my duties could take me away from you for so long.”

He eased himself down onto a cushion across from her as she poured him a cup of tea.

“I just wish I knew a little more about what you’ve been doing. I know it’s top secret, but…I am a princess of Hoshido.”

Kaze sighed, a bit exasperated, but a smile pulling on his lips, "Anata..."

Corrin pursed her lips, she rolled her eyes up, searching her thoughts, before snapping her fingers. "Oh! That's 'you'! I'm getting the hang of Hoshidan again."

"Oh," Kaze spoke up, "in this case, it's a term of affection... wives often use it as a 'darling'."

"Oh! So you're the wife?"

Kaze chuckled. “If that’s what you really want, then sure.”

 

He gave his grinning wife a kiss on the cheek and tucked a loose strand of her long, silver hair behind her ear.

“How were our little prince and princess today?”

Corrin glanced behind her, as if to check that the children hadn’t stirred from the bedroom.

“Kana was a happy baby again today. He’s getting along well with everyone, as usual. Midori, on the other hand…” Corrin sighed. “Midori made me another ‘salve’ today. This time it was made from ground up bugs and mushroom caps.”

Kaze smiled.

“So? What did you tell her?”

“Well, I used it. What else was I supposed to do? She’s barely five, but that doesn’t mean I want to discourage her.”

“I see. And how did that work out?”

Corrin shrugged a shoulder out of her robe and showed off her irritated skin.

“Have you thought about asking Lady Sakura if she could teach Midori about medicine?”

Corrin shook her head.  
“No, I haven’t. I mean, I know Sakura would be happy to, but she has her own affairs to see to. Besides, I’m not sure if Midori would retain all that much.”

 

Kaze chuckled.

“When Saizo and I were her age we were already in training.”

“Wha- really?”

Kaze nodded.

“We were mostly helping with harvesting and learning the basics of stealth, but yes, really.”

“Was that common in your village?”

“Well, our father was a little more hard-nosed about it- with good reason- but usually by nine or ten most of the children there were proficient with some weapon or another.”

“Wow.”

Kaze looked a bit wistful as he took a drink of his tea.  

“I wish you could have met him.”

Corrin smiled, and reached over and put her hands on Kaze’s. A soft laugh suddenly burst from him.

“Actually, I’m sure he probably would have had several objections to a retainer marrying his liege. So maybe it’s for the best.”

“You mean he was more like Saizo?”

Kaze smiled again, and shook his head.

“Ha... More than just _like_ him. In name, looks, and demeanor, Saizo seems like almost an exact duplicate of father. Almost. He’s a little more lenient than father was, and a lot more hot-headed, and _definitely_ not as careful with his words… but in terms of his demeanor towards his lord, the resemblance is uncanny.”

“That’s a compliment by all means, of course,” he added.

 

They shared a comfortable silence for a few moments.

Corrin suddenly realized that, besides a few things gleaned from previous conversations, she didn’t know all that much about Kaze’s parents. It surprised her a little that it hadn’t come up at all in the past year and a half since the war ended, but things had been so busy.

They’d married early on- barely a year into the war itself- and then Midori was born before they pushed the Nohrian army out of Hoshido. Then the long, hard campaign in Nohr hadn’t exactly provided a climate to discuss family history unless it was relevant.

Even now, everyone- the royal family included- was working on repairing the damages that had been done during the war, political and otherwise, and tending to their own families that had managed to spring up during the course of the previous four years.

She decided it was probably high time she learned a little more about her husband. He seemed willing enough to discuss it, after all. Corrin took another sip of tea.

 

“So do you take after your mother, then?”

Kaze’s face clouded a bit, and he shifted a bit, switching the position of his legs.

“Well, I suppose I-“

He was cut off by the sound of a screen door sliding open behind her.

“Mama,” Midori yawned, “I’m thirsty.” She blinked sleepily, then gasped. “Dad! You’re home!”

She rushed over and fell into his lap, wrapping her tiny arms around his waist. He laughed, ruffling her short green hair.

“It’s been a while since you saw me outside work, hasn’t it? You’re being good for your mother, I hope? Are you being a good big sister, too?”

“Of course! Midori can change Kana’s diapers all by herself!”

Corrin, smiling, quietly stood up and retrieved another cup for her daughter while Kaze doted on her.

“Here you go, little sprout, one cup of tea.” Corrin put the cup next to Kaze’s. “Careful, it’s hot.”

“Thanks, mama!” Midori pulled herself back to her feet, scooted over into a cushion next to her father, and carefully slid the cup towards her.

“I’m like a grown up now, huh?” She blew softly at the steam rising from the tea. “I get to drink tea late at night and talk about important secrets.”

Now it was Corrin’s turn to laugh.

“We weren’t talking about secrets, dear. We were talking about dad’s family.”

“Why? Did you get in a fight with Uncle Saizo again, dad?”

“No, he didn’t. We were talking about his parents.”

 

Midori’s eyes got wide.

“So we were talking about grandpa Saizo the second? Asugi told me that uncle talks about grandpa all the time.”

Kaze quirked an eyebrow and glanced at Corrin.

“Asugi?”

“It’s what Little Saizo has been calling himself,” Corrin explained, grinning. “Auntie’s been using it too, but I don’t think Uncle Saizo likes it very much.”

“I see.” Kaze looked at Midori solemnly. “Did…Asugi tell you what happened to grandpa?”

Midori looked down at the ground quietly.

“He said he was murdered.” She was quiet a moment. “Is that true, daddy?”

Kaze’s eyes looked a bit pained, but he nodded.

“Yes. It’s true.”

 

“But he said Uncle Saizo got the bad man who murdered him. So that means nobody else will get hurt!”

Midori nodded to herself, and then paused in confusion.

“But...Then Kiragi said that Grandma Mikoto was murdered too. And Grandpa Misterugi.”

Corrin concealed a smile behind a sip of tea at the mispronunciation of Sumeragi's name.  Midori continued, frowning slightly.

“But the person who murdered them was a different person…” Her eyes widened in fear. “Daddy, what happened to my other grandma?”

Kaze sighed.

 

“Well, I suppose it’s best if you learned now…after all, a few of your friends will have living grandparents.” Kaze closed his eyes, searching for the long stored away memories in a far dusty corner of his mind.

“My mother’s- that is, your grandmother’s name was Kumiko. She was a beautiful, kind hearted woman. I was told often that I took after her, and since you take after me, I imagine she may have resembled her as a little girl…well, besides the ears, of course.”

Midori absentmindedly tugged at her slightly pointed ears.

“She was part of another ninja clan, although she herself was not a ninja. She devoted herself to her family- my father, uncle Saizo, and I- and spent most of her time tending crops and making medicines, alongside being a mother and housewife. She was loving, kind, and fair…but like most mothers, she was absolutely terrifying when she got angry.”

He smiled at the memories, but then bit his lip.

“After father died- no, after father was _killed_ \- things became rather difficult for her. She often said that father was the love of her life, and losing him in such a sudden way didn’t make things any easier. Saizo left immediately after the burial to try and find the man who did it, while I stayed behind with mother for the vigil.”

The room was deathly quiet. It felt like even the crickets outside had stopped singing to better hear Kaze’s story.

 

“Not long after, she took ill, and was sick for days…but I was there to care for her, and she seemed to get through the worst of it. As she was recovering, I received summons from Queen Mikoto. I left mother in the care of a few neighbors, and thought that would be that.”

Kaze seemed to tense.

“But when I was gone, her condition suddenly took a turn for the worse. She passed away before I even got word of it.”

“And so, besides maintaining their graves, I’ve never really had much of a cause to back to the village since. I was planning to ask you and your mother if you wanted to visit during the next Obon, but it kept…slipping my mind.”

Corrin pushed back tears. To think he hadn’t mentioned a word about anything this whole time…

“Kaze…I’m so sorry…I never knew.”

He smiled weakly.

“Well, I hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about it. But I’m relieved to finally tell someone else about it.”

 

The two of them turned their gaze to Midori, who’d been staring mutely at her now-lukewarm tea since he started.

“Midori,” he asked, “Do you understand?”

She didn’t respond, and neither of them pushed her. They knew she was working through it in her mind.

 

After a few minutes, she spoke.  
“So…grandma Kumiko is dead, too?”

Kaze nodded sadly.

“And…all old people die, right?”

“Yes, Midori. I’m sorry to tell you this…but that’s true.”

 

Midori’s eyes filled with tears.

“When I grow up…is someone going to murder you and mama, too? Are you and mama going to die?”

Corrin and Kaze exchanged a panicked glance across the table. In that near-instant, silent moment of communication, they decided that Corrin should be the one to answer.

“Midori…” she began, folding her hands into her lap, “Don’t worry. Your father and I won’t be murdered. And we won’t be dying any time soon.”

 

Midori sniffled, and wiped her eyes.

“Are you sure? D-do you promise?”

“I promise. Now both of you get over here and give me a hug.”

 

Kaze stood, scooped up Midori (causing her to squeal in surprise) and took her and his wife into a loving embrace. Corrin kissed both of them on the cheek with an over emphasized “ _Mwah_!”- not unlike Camilla did to her as a child.

“All right, then, it’s time for all of us to go to bed. It’s way past all of our bed times.”

As they settled in for the night, Corrin glanced at Kana in the crib. He was awake, but he just laid there, cooing gently. Corrin smiled, and gave Kana a kiss on the forehead before lying down next to the rest of the family.

It was a quiet night.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry this is so short and probably not what u had in mind. good news: there may be a sequel. (read: will be, once I get more sleep)
> 
> also, a friend of me told me that they did not use cribs in feudal Japan, but to me, leaving a baby unattended in a pile of blankets on the floor seemed irresponsible, so fuq it.
> 
> follow me on twitter @slaysbelles if you liked it, i guess


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